COMEDY

12.07.11

Colbert Calls His Own Debate

Mike Coppola / Getty Images

You never know when Stephen Colbert is joking or not. The comedian and host of The Colbert Report on Tuesday night challenged the Republican nominees for president for a debate, which he called “Stephen Colbert’s South Carolina Serious, Classy Republican Debate.” Talking in the style of Donald Trump, Colbert first praised Trump for calling for a debate, and then the comedian said he would hold his own debate “sometime in January,” televised on Animal Planet. It’s been a busy week for Colbert: he said Monday he would be teaming up with South Carolina Democrats to hold a hearing to get a referendum on that state’s ballot asking whether “corporations are people,” and on Sunday night, Newt Gingrich tweeted that Colbert was “brilliant” at the Kennedy Center Honors.